


(Heart) Talks Too Much

by CalicoColors



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Broken Bones, Fluff and Humor, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Protectiveness, fools finally talking about their feelings, really sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 13:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18411887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalicoColors/pseuds/CalicoColors
Summary: Sora, all-mighty hero of light, savior of worlds, keyblade master-in-training—breaks his leg falling out of a palm tree, of all things. He feels like he should be more bothered about that than he actually is, but Riku won't stop hovering and hanging out and, well, the attention is really nice, so he should soak this up while it lasts, right?One problematic side effect, though, is that it’s making his crush really, really obvious. And making him go just a little bit crazy as a result of it.





	(Heart) Talks Too Much

“I still can’t believe this happened. Out of everything that could possibly go wrong in our lives, _this_ is what finally got you?”

Sora slouches further into his bed, ears burning, as Kairi sits at the end with crossed arms and an unsightly, judgmental smile that he really doesn’t appreciate. “Alright, alright, yuk it up, get your kicks in now while I’m down, why don’t you.”

“Sora, the all-mighty hero of worlds, who has destroyed countless heartless and fought over a dozen evil darkness fanatics with barely a scratch—has finally been defeated by none other than a _palm tree._ Oh, this is grand. One for the history books, truly.”

Slouching further, Sora tries to kick at her, but a spark of pain reminds him that, oh wait, he _can’t_ , because his stupid leg is broken. And okay, sure, it was a _little_ ridiculous how it happened, but Sora thinks that he should be receiving comfort and kindness instead of this mockery his friends are subjecting him to.

“Remember when you were being nice to me a few hours ago? I miss those times. Can we go back to that?”

“That was before we knew you were fine. Now you’re going to accept our ridicule as payment for making us worry,” Riku jumps in, walking back into the room with a few plates of pizza in his hands. “Here, your mom ordered in today. Your favorite, too.”

Sora picks his head up, cruelty-induced misery melting away at the sight of such a generous act of good will. “Really?”

Kairi takes the plates and starts picking at the toppings. “Wow, even your gross banana peppers. They really went all out.”

“Oh, heck yeah!” Quickly, Sora moves to sit up, but before he even starts attempting to shift his leg, Riku materializes by his side. With a hand on his back, he helps prop him up against the backboard with minimal discomfort. He does it so quickly and casually that Sora doesn’t process what happened until he’s already moved away, adjusting the pillow under his cast before pulling up the desk chair to the bedside to lounge in.

Once they settle, Kairi hands them each their own plates. Sora’s is filled extra-high with toppings because Kairi doesn’t like peppers or mushrooms and Riku thinks olives taste like chemicals, so they always give him their extras. Yeah, sometimes his friends can be pretty awesome, too.

He’s definitely not going to tell that to these two jerks until they stop being mean to him, though. “My mom is the only one who really cares about me,” Sora mumbles, munching on a bite. “She gets me pizza and hugs and all you guys do is yell at me.”

Kairi laughs. “Awh, we do it out of love!”

“Also, it’s a lot of fun. Seriously, Sora, a palm tree?” Riku smirks, flipping back to judgmental. Sora groans.

A few days ago, Sora decided to climb one of the island trees, which turned out to be a supremely bad idea when he somehow managed to slip on one of the fronds and fall smack-dab on his leg, snapping it in two. Really, he doesn’t even know how it happened—he’s been climbing trees all his life, and this is the first time he’s ever got hurt full-on falling from one.

He told everyone that he fell trying to grab a coconut, because that was less embarrassing and would beg less questions than the actual reason, which was that he actually fell from one of the paopu trees.

He used up all his magic trying to knock the stupid fruit from the tree with a few ineffective Gravira’s, one frustrated Fira, and one hastily-cast Blizzara. Without an elixir on hand, he couldn’t do much in the ways of Cure after he fell.

And anyways, people shouted and came to help right when they heard the snap and his scream, so he couldn’t exactly cast very-obvious magic right in front of them, even if he had MP to spare. Also he was in far too much pain to even think about anything except white noise and the completely _wrong_ angle of his leg, _oh_ _god_ —

By the time he was dragged to a hospital, met with a doctor, saw his parents, and ladled with a few painkillers before he could protest, he forgot all about Cura. What? It’s been a while since he had to use it, and he’s a little out of practice due to not being in any more extreme life-or-death situations. Besides, even Cura has its limits if an injury’s bad enough.

There’s also a certain time period after an injury where Cura stops becoming as effective, and he knows when he wakes up next that he’s missed that golden healing period. The bone has already started to mend; the most Cura will do at this point will speed up the healing and stop it from setting wrong.

Annoyingly, it seems like he’s going to have to tough this one out the old-fashioned way. Fun!

But maybe it won’t be so bad. The doctor said it was a clean break, no sweat. And even though his friends are being mean now, he knows they’re going to be all worrying and helpful no matter what they say. Especially one of them in particular.

Taking the last bite, Sora reaches over to grab at his crutches. And once again, Riku immediately helps him up, grip sturdy and steadying. “Where are you off to?”

“Going to wash up real quick. I got pizza hands,” Sora says, holding up his grease-stained fingers. Riku nods a bit, making sure the crutches are stable before handing them off.

“Don’t fall in!” Riku jokes. Sora rolls his eyes, giving Kairi a long-suffering look before hobbling out the door.

This is the ‘particular’ he mentioned. Riku’s been acting _especially_ weird lately, and has been non-stop hovering ever since he heard the news. Attitude-wise, he’s still same ol’ Riku, but the moment Sora moves too much or tries to stand up on his own, he gets all antsy and anxious, no matter how many times Sora says he’s fine. If Sora even lets out a slight hiss of discomfort from across the room, Riku was by him in an instant, asking if he wanted anything or helping him up or fetching a glass of water or whatever else he thought Sora needed at the moment.

It’s downright bizarre, but Sora is definitely not complaining. Honestly, any chance to have Riku close is a chance Sora will gladly take. At heart, Sora finds the concern sweet; he’s probably just worried because of the lasting injury, which is Sora’s first major one in a while, so he can understand the hovering. He’d do the same if it was the other way around.

When he clinks his way back in, hands squeaky clean, Kairi and Riku are talking about something he can’t catch, and when they spot Sora they speak up to include him in while Kairi messes with a deck of cards.

“Excited for school tomorrow?” Kairi asks, shuffling the deck and splitting the cards amongst the three evenly.

“You’re going to think I’m crazy, but yeah, actually.” Sora flips his first card; a jack, lucky for him. Ratslap is probably a little too intense of a card game for his condition right now, but he honestly needs the excitement.

Riku lays down three before he finally flips a face card. “I can see it. You look like you’re about to start climbing the walls even though its only been two days.”

Flipping a king, Kairi loses to Sora when he slaps the pile quick as a lightning bolt. She shoots him a dirty look as he takes the lot. “Explains why you keep winning at cards, then. Nothing else to put your energy into—oh, _damn it!”_

Sora laughs as he takes the next pile, too, which then turns into a frown when he loses a huge pot to a smug Riku a few rounds later. Throughout the game, he tries very hard not to move his leg too much as he reaches in the center for maximum slappage and card-pile stealing. Already, he feels Riku’s eyes on him, keeping a careful eye out.

“I’m probably going to go insane if I stay inside any longer. I can’t just do nothing, you know—no, NO, _KAIRI, I SLAPPED FIRST_ —“

“Read ‘em and weep, boys,” Kairi smirks, fanning her pile to show off. Egged on, Sora tries to scoot closer to the middle, forgets, and winces as it jostles the leg and sends a sharp twinge shooting down to his toes. From the side, Riku gives him a wordless questioning look, to which Sora replies to with a nod to confirm he’s okay.

Still, Riku scoots closer to him as the game goes on, which leads to Sora losing to Kairi because of how distracted he is by this fact. The way he keeps a (heavy, gentle, warm) hand over his good knee, and the way his smile (sly, towards the game, but soft and genuine towards him—) keeps his peripheral vision out of commission is _seriously_ ruining his winning streak.

It’s the first sign of trouble for Sora. How can a guy be expected to play cards when his best-friend-and-also-major-crush exists all in his head and in his space and everything? This is all Riku’s fault, Sora thinks sullenly as Kairi takes the last pile and cheers in victory. _Completely_ his fault.  

* * *

As predicted, midway through the school week, Sora is starting to feel the stir-crazy eating at his very soul. He misses running down the beach or walking downtown or, heck, even taking normal showers without worrying about soaking the cast or whatever.

He tries not to heal his leg too fast, because the doctor will get suspicious if she sees his leg fine and dandy after a week or two, but _man_ he just wants to do stuff again!

Kairi and Riku are over every day, though, and that helps some. Movies, video games, one intense game of Monopoly, and countless Ratslap rounds are fun, no doubt, but not what he really wants to do. For an athletic guy that was used to hopping between worlds on the regular and competing against people in races and sparring matches whenever he was bored, the nothingness he’s doing now is driving him insane.

Plus, being stuck inside with a Riku who pretty much never strays more than twenty feet from his side during their hangouts is slowly but surely chipping away at the rational, sound part of his mind.

And on top of all that, the crutches are really starting to grate on his arms. They’re just so _uncomfortable!_

He brings this up to Riku as they’re switching between classes on Wednesday. “Could they make these things any more comfortable? Please? My underarms are going to be black and blue by the end of the week, I swear.”

Riku frowns, adjusting a few of Sora’s notebooks he insisted on carrying. Sora let him but kept his own bag, wanting to not feel _entirely_ like a complete leech. “Yeah, they don’t look designed with luxury in mind. Also, you keep trying to do normal stuff with them. If you kept off your leg more and rested, you’d be better off.”

“Ugh, it sucks! This sucks!” Sora laments. But before he can continue with his line of complaints, Riku suddenly stops, swinging his bag down from his shoulder and stuffing Sora’s books in it. “Uh, what’re you doing?”

When Riku stands back up, he holds out an arm to Sora and looks at him expectantly. Just as he does, though, he winces, fingers curling up in hesitation at Sora’s confusion. “Uh, well, I thought I could maybe help hold you up to give you a break from the crutches. But, uh, I just realized this is probably a really dumb idea so you know what, never mind—”

As soon as Riku explains, however, Sora immediately leans on the offered arm, folding up a crutch in one hand with a relieved laugh. “Really? Oh man, thank you so much, these were bothering me like _crazy._ This sounds so much better!”

If Sora believed he wasn’t fooling himself, he could swear the he sees Riku blush a bit as he grins, strong arm holding him steady. Or maybe that’s just Sora’s own feelings projecting, because he’s hyper-aware of the heat on his own cheeks and everywhere else him and Riku are touching in this moment.

Instead of looking in Riku’s (really pretty, wow, they were so close, oh _wow_ —) eyes, he instead stares down at his cast, knowing he’s smiling all silly-like. Everyone in his class already bombarded it with markers, so instead of plaster-white his cast is now a mess of colorful signatures, get well soon’s, cat drawings, and inappropriate symbols.

As they make their way down the hall, Riku’s arm as one crutch taking pressure off the other one, Sora squints at his cast and tries to think of a smooth conversation starter to stop his thoughts from focusing on the man beside him. “I think someone drew a hot pink mouse with a flamethrower on my leg.”

Riku laughs, all warm and rumbly and nice-sounding. “Oh, yeah, I helped Kairi draw that one. Isn’t it charming?”

* * *

After that day, it becomes a little bit of a problem, because Sora starts to take advantage of every and all opportunities to be close to Riku as much as he possibly can.

Riku always meets him outside of classes they don’t share, taking his books and offering him an arm like it’s second nature. It becomes such a habit that Kairi barely even bats an eye at it when she joins them. As the days go on, leaning on an arm develops into leaning into him completely. Which, turns out, is even more comfy and nice-feeling, with the added bonus of sending the butterflies in his stomach into a jubilated frenzy.

He even starts fabricating reasons to have an excuse to be close. On one day, he “conveniently” forgets one of his crutches at home when his mom drops him off. Which was _completely_ unintended, oh no, whatever _will_ he do? This turns out to be _awesome_ , because not only does Riku become his crutch between class, but he also lets Sora piggyback on their way home when they meet back up with Kairi.

They talk aimlessly, chatting about nothing in particular as Sora leans into the crook of Riku’s neck, feeling the warmth of his skin on his cheek. Whenever Kairi says something funny, he can hear the gentle rumble of his laughter echo through his back and reverberate in his own. It’s so nice, but so unfair how Riku can look so good all the time, and it’s even more unfair how much of an effect it has on Sora.

Good thing Riku can’t see Sora’s face clearly right now, otherwise he’s sure that Riku would get a clue due to how stupidly love-sick he probably looks right now. Jeez, he really has it _bad._

As if sensing his distress, Riku hitches him a little higher on his back, twisting his head to flash him a quick side-grin. With a jolt, Sora buries his head deeper into his shoulder to hide a blush, starting to grin contagiously himself. _Seriously unfair_. It’s a wonderful, breezy afternoon with his friends, as Sora chats and pines and tries to play it cool, falling ever deeper.

The next day, Kairi and Sora are at the snack bar during lunch (sans Riku, who texted to say he’ll be running late) when she figures it out. “You have a thing for Riku, don’t you?”

In the middle of a sip, Sora nearly snorts soda up his nose, coughing. “ _Augh—_ what, what no, uh, who told you that?”

Annoyingly self-satisfied, Kairi clicks her tongue and grins mischievously at him. “I had a sneaking suspicion for a while, but I finally put all the pieces together after Selphie told me something _very_ interesting the other day.”

The mere mention of the island gossip queen sends Sora into immediate fight or flight mode. Oh, god, what could she have possibly heard?

“You weren’t climbing a coconut tree that day, were you, Sora?”

Sora faceplants into the table, feeling his face burn. Out of everything she could have heard, she had to hear _that_.

“…no,” he mumbles. It’s no use lying anymore. The rumor is already out, and Kairi is relentless with these things if he gives a non-sequitur. “Why’d she tell you that, anyways? What, did she think that me and Riku…or something?” He can’t even finish the sentence, too embarrassed to speak.

Kairi laughs and rubs his back comfortingly. “Nah, she was all excited ‘cause she thought you were getting it for me. But I know that’s done and over with, so that leaves literally only one other person on this island who you could be getting it for.”

One last time, Sora tries to regain some measure of his dignity. “It could be platonic, you know! It can be a totally platonic, totally friendship-only gesture!”

Kairi gives him a Look. “Oh, and I’m just supposed to ignore the looks you and Mr. Overprotective share on the regular? Please. You two are so far gone that I honestly can’t believe you haven’t already talked it out.”

Sora groans, smacking back down to the table. “He’s been driving me _crazy_ this week, Kairi! He’s like, always so close and warm and nice and _ugh,_ he’s the worst! I don’t know!”

Crunching on a few pretzel sticks, Kairi continues patting his back as Sora miserably thinks back to that day.

The day he fell, Sora had the really sappy, really silly idea to pluck a paopu fruit and split it amongst his friends. This somehow got all tangled up in his head until he fixated on the idea that he should share it with Riku first, because it’ll be this big grand, y’know, couple-y gesture and all that.

He even had the whole conversation planned out in his head: _“Haha, haven’t you ever wondered what they taste like? We should totally try one! Together! You know, just to see, haha.”_ Well, it was going to be a little smoother than that, of course. Probably.

Anyways, the _point_ is that it would have been sweet, and corny, and would have probably led to more talking and then maybe, just maybe, Sora could have worked up the bravery to finally just _say it_. “ _I like you!”_ Easy, right?

It sounds dumb when he thinks about it now. But he still wants to try it, because right now that’s still his best chance at getting his heart to stop jumping at a hundred miles per hour whenever it detects Riku within a half-mile radius.

His thoughts are interrupted by Kairi once again. “You should just tell him, you know.”

With a jerk, Sora picks his head up to glare at her. “No way, I can’t do that! What if he doesn’t feel the same? I can’t risk that.”

“I’m telling you, Sora, all your problems will be solved if you do. Trust me! You two are so oblivious it’s not even funny.”

Sora tears at a napkin, stripping it into tiny papery pieces. “I can’t! Please, _please_ don’t tell him. It’ll _ruin_ my _life_ and then I’ll have to change my name and move to Atlantica and become a hermit that farms sea snails or something. It’ll be _awful._ I don’t even know what snails eat!”

Shaking her head, Kairi sighs, but there’s fondness in the exasperation. “Of course I won’t, that’s up to you. But I’m still gonna bother you about it, you big nerd!”

The moment is broken by Riku sliding in the seat next to him as Sora finishes arranging his paper shreds into a star shape. “What are we bothering Sora about?”

“Just the math exam that’s coming up. We should set up a study day for it soon,” Kairi smoothly leads in, as Sora bumps the table and messes up his work when he quickly has to glance away to hide his blush.

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Riku says, slinging an arm around the seat. Sora intensely stares down at the table, feeling all warm from the touch at his back. Riku’s so _casual_ about it, completely unaware of what it’s doing to Sora’s sanity. “We have time, it’s not for another two weeks anyways. Also, what are we doing after school? We mentioned the arcade a week ago, but I don’t think we can keep Sora away from the DDR machine.”

Kairi gives Sora an imploring look before launching into a conversation with Riku. Sora wants to sink into his seat and disappear forever, but also really, really wants to lean in and brush the hair away from Riku’s eyes or press his face against Riku’s side. It’s a real conundrum.

As a compromise, he shifts ever so slightly to the right, closer, and when the arm pulls him in a little more, he thinks, _oh I’m in_ so _much trouble._

* * *

A week after the big break, his leg finally stops aching as much due to the Cure treatments he’s been keeping up with. Unless he bumps it or moves it too fast, it feels almost back to normal. So really, there’s really no reason for him to keep leaning on Riku or asking for help other than to keep up appearances with his classmates.

But if he’s honest with himself, it’s not to keep up appearances, not at all. He just wants to be close to Riku. And it feels a little like lying, taking advantage of his friends’ kindness like this, but he can’t help it.

After not seeing Riku or Kairi for over an entire year, always just having them be a few worlds away where he can’t reach, it’s so, so nice to have them here by his side as he’s always wanted. And after searching for Riku for a good majority of his time away, it’s amazing to know that he can just reach out and sling an arm around his back or spontaneously hug him whenever the mood strikes. Now, he’s always just a hair’s breadth away, none of the endless distance separating them anymore.

He’s just _missed it_ so much, okay, he can afford to be a little selfish, right? Besides, Riku doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, he’s the one that keeps offering _,_ anyways. Who’s he to say no?

“So, admit that I’ve got the strongest bones out of all of us. Another point for Team Never-Broke-a-Bone over here!” Kairi says as they hangout on the beach on a lazy morning, munching on some snacks they bought from the market.

Riku laughs. “Don’t jinx it. Karma will knock you off your throne before long if you keep up with the trashtalking.”

“No need to be jealous!” Accidentally, Kairi bumps into Sora’s sand sculpture, making a mini landslide. Sora scrambles to fix it, saying, “Hey, watch it!” as he tries to halt the destruction.

“Sorry, its my super strong bones, I can’t control what they do,” Kairi says, but helps him pat the sand back down to its proper place. “What is that, anyways?”

“Disney Castle, duh,” he says, starting to work on one of the spires. Giving him a dubious look, Riku tilts his head and squints at it. If Sora wasn’t feeling very fond of him right now, he would have pushed him for the offense, but he can’t look at him without focusing on his arms or eyes or general-attractive-and-kind Rikuness, so.

A beep from Kairi’s phone interrupts their relaxing, and she glances at it with a sigh. “Alright, guys, I need to head out. I’ll see you later!”

“Bye!” Sora and Riku say in unison, and she gives them each a hug before walking away with a smile and a wave. And then, they’re alone.

Sora works extra hard on carving the windows of the castle, making them lucky emblems instead of boxes to distinguish them. For some reason, he feels a little awkward right now with Kairi gone, even though he’s comfortable in the silence between them and the sound of the waves in the background.

“How’s the leg?” Riku finally asks, breaking the stillness. In the middle of digging out a moat, Sora glances up.

“Oh, uh, it feels fine. It’s probably almost fully healed by now. I don’t know how I’m going to explain it to the doctor, but it’s better than having it ache.”

Balling up some of the muddier sand, Riku starts rolling it in his hands. “I figured. You don’t seem that bothered by it anymore. Which, that’s good!” He adds quickly.

Sora gives him a curious look at the weird phrasing, but lets it go. “Yeah! I’ll be back to winning races in no time, so you better watch out.”

“You wish,” Riku scoffs, squishing the mud ball and letting the sand fall through his fingers.

Though their talk is casual, Sora can practically hear the question on the tip of his tongue. Even walking to the beach today, Riku’d still flung an arm under his own as a crutch, even though he guessed that Sora didn’t need it anymore, uncomfortable-actual-crutches complaints notwithstanding. So why did Sora still accept the help?

That brings a question of Sora’s own, though: Why didn’t Riku stop offering?

Lost in thought, he leaves the castle alone to turn towards Riku fully. Abandoning the sand as well, Riku instead stares over the water with a pensive look. His hair is tied back, pushing the bangs out of his eyes, so there is nothing to hide his face or the way the sun shines on the silver strands. When he notices Sora’s gaze, he meets his eyes with an easy-going grin, skin all sunkissed-flushed and arms casually draped over his leg, all coolness and sweetness and everything Sora has ever loved.

Somewhere in his head, he can faintly hear the sound of his last shred of common sense blow its left engine and steadily nose-dive towards the realm of bad ideas.

“You alright?” Riku asks after a minute, breaking Sora out of his admiring daze. Sora blinks. Oh, he’s probably just been just staring at Riku this entire time like a loon, he realizes.

Even the way his forehead creases in concern is stupidly attractive, and—well, in that moment, Sora kinda, sorta snaps a little, just as his mental plane makes a dramatic crash landing. He’s been cooped up for the past week doing nothing but deal with the fact that his best friend is driving him insane due to the massive crush Sora’s been harboring on him like, forever, and he seriously _can’t deal with it_ anymore.

Maybe Kairi was right. Saying it would be better than just keeping it bottled up inside forever. Besides, it’s not like they’ll ever stop being friends—that’s pretty much impossible, he’d never let that happen—so even if it makes things awkward for a while, it’s better to just rip the bandaid off now so he can have a real answer instead of this will-he-wont-he Sora’s been running circles around for far too long.

Quickly, he takes a deep breath, steeling himself. Okay. Now’s his chance!

Before he can lose his nerve, he blurts out, all in a rush, “Ilikeyou!” just as Riku says at the same time, “So, the paopu tree, huh?”

Both of them freeze as the words jumble together nonsensically. _What_.

“What did you say?” Riku asks, blinking at him in shock, staring at the way Sora’s cheeks are now blaring a very mortified shade of neon red.

What little nerve Sora had built up suddenly vaporizes, and he feels his palms start to sweat cold even though it’s 90 degrees outside. “Oh—nothing, y’know, uh, you first! Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt, haha.” _Smooth. Real smooth, Sora._

There’s a little glint of something in Riku’s eyes that fades away as he turns back to staring at the waves with a frown. To tell the truth, he looks a little disappointed, if Sora had to put a name to the expression.

“Uh…okay, sure, alright. Well, I’ve heard some rumors around the island. About the, uh, paopu and Kairi, and I just wanted to say that I’m happy for you—"

Sora was a fool to think that Riku would be isolated from the far-reaching grasp of small-island gossip. Hastily, he cuts off Riku, hurrying to explain. “Oh, no, did Selphie get to you, too? Ugh, does _no one_ on this island have anything better to do than to gossip? I can’t _believe_ them, those backstabbing—” The rest of Riku’s words catch up to him. “Wait, what does Kairi have to do with this?”

Riku stares at him as if he had two heads, repeating his words slow. “You know. Sharing the paopu with her. I’m happy for you two.”

All Sora can do is blink at him, left dumbfounded for the second time in as many minutes. Riku doesn’t _sound_ happy about it. In fact, he said it solemnly, all heavy-sounding as if it carried a ten-ton weight behind it, and he refuses to meet his eyes anymore.

There’s an inkling suspicion starting to nag at Sora. The memory of talking with Kairi during lunch replays in his mind: “ _Selphie was all excited ‘cause she thought you were getting it for me.”_

Just to make sure, Sora asks, real slowly, “What do you think me and Kairi are, Riku?”

From the side, Riku glares at him, a bit of impatience building in his expression. “You _know._ Together! Romantically, in case that wasn’t clear enough. That’s all I wanted to say, okay?” Reaching up, Riku starts picking at his hair as if he wanted to pull it out of its tie and let his bangs fall. As if to hide.

It takes Sora another moment to process his words. Oh, this is _so_ not going how he planned.

“But we _aren’t_ together, Riku. We never were.”

“I’ve seen the way you look at her, Sora. You don’t have to lie.” Annoyingly, Riku still refuses to meet his gaze, and for some reason that frustrates Sora more than anything. He’s not _listening_.

“Okay, yeah, I won’t deny that I used to like her that way. But that was then _._ We both talked it over and decided that it wasn’t for us. We’re different people now, and we know it won’t work out if we force it. And we’re fine with that! She’s one of my best friends in the whole world and always will be, but we’re not anything more.”

Now Riku was starting to look frustrated, too, his hands balling up the sand in his fists. “Then what about the paopu tree? Everyone said it was for her! Who else would it be?”

“I was getting it for _you,_ stupid!” Sora yells, patience finally breaking after a week of shoving all his feelings away. “I was getting it for you ‘cause I thought it would be cute and cheesy and I hoped it would finally give me the courage to just come out and say that _I like you!”_

Huffing, Sora stares at Riku intensely, hoping his expression can send the message his words can’t. Right now, he can’t find it in himself to be self-conscious; the secret is out, there’s no mistaking it, and he can’t take it back. It’s now or never.

Jaw dropped and eyes wide in shock, Riku finally stares back, teal eyes vibrant. Sora realizes how close he’s leaned into Riku during his speech, so close they’re nearly touching noses, and he scooches back a little to give him some breathing room.

Riku stops, stutters, starts again. “You…like me?”

Sora wants to tear his own hair out, embarrassment and aggravation at war in his head at being made to repeat himself. Ugh, Riku can be so _daft_ sometimes. “Yes! I’ve liked you _forever_ and you’ve been driving me _crazy_ all this week! You’re always so _close_ and always _there_ and helping and your arms are like, insanely strong, holy crap, and you have the most gorgeous eyes in the entire _world_ and—”

Abruptly, Sora cuts off his rambling with a click. The blush returns with a vengeance, embarrassment winning out as his shoulders hitch up to his ears.

But Riku doesn’t seem to mind, or even to notice. “You like me? Seriously?” He repeats dazedly. That glint of something returns to his eyes, sparking hopefully.

Now it’s Sora’s turn to grow hesitant. “Yeah…uh, I’m sorry, does—does that bother you? I understand if it does…look, I’m really sorry if I made things awkward, here, I’ll move—”

“No!” Riku suddenly says, gently grasping his wrist to stop him from going anywhere. “No, please. I thought—I didn’t, I thought there was no chance, I wasn’t ever, but—Sora, I-I,” Riku pauses, swallows, takes a deep breath. Sora stares with rapture, surroundings fading away in his focus as he hangs on to every word and every hope, watching the way his eyes glitter and his words tremble. “Sora, I like you too.”

Oh.

_Oh!_

Butterflies flitter and dance in his stomach, swooping with joy and cheering with exhilaration. If he were in Neverland, he would be floating ten feet off the ground, filled with so much love and elation and other sappy feelings that send him flying, wanting to shout to everyone who’d listen that _he likes me back! Riku likes me back!_

Without another thought, he leaps at Riku and wraps his arms around his middle as a wide, wide, smile overtakes his face. His leg aches dully, but he doesn’t care in the slightest. Riku’s arms catch him quick, wrapping secure around his back as Sora digs his nose into his shoulder and laughs and laughs, feeling so free and light. Jeez, they’re _both_ so daft sometimes.

“Hey, careful! Your leg, be careful of your leg!” Riku says, but he’s laughing as he says it, too overjoyed to chide Sora properly. Always thoughtful, that Riku, Sora thinks fondly to himself.

Sora pulls away a bit to stare up at him with stars in his eyes. “You like me back! I can’t believe it! Jeez, all this time I was worrying about nothing, huh.” From this close, he can see the way Riku’s eyes crinkle in joy, the softness in those eyes he adores, the pure honest affection written in his body language.

“So much,” Riku says, a little fervently. “It was forever for me, too. You—you drove me a little crazy this week, as well. I mean, I _wanted_ to help, I always do, but. You would smile at me and my knees would go all weak, and then you’d lean in close, so casual and solid and _there_ , and you’re always so warm and cheerful and also you have the cutest nose—”

Now Riku is the one who cuts himself off with a blush of epic proportions, blindingly bright on his pale skin. Sora giggles, pressing his forehead against Riku’s for a moment and squeezing his eyes closed.

“My nose? Of all things, you liked me for my _nose?”_

“Shut up. It’s a very nice nose. Also, it was all I could look at without getting distracted too badly.”

Wow. How Sora had missed this fumbling, love-sick Riku is beyond him. His crush made him _oblivious_.

The words sound familiar in his head, and Sora scrunches up his (apparently, super cute) nose in thought. “Ugh, I think I owe Kairi money or something. She said we were oblivious, and I hate that she was right.”

“She told you that, too?” Riku says. “Yeah, she’s definitely going to lord this over us forever.”

Sora laughs, pressing his face against Riku’s one more time before sitting back up. Honestly, he can deal with listening to Kairi telling them _I told you so_ for the rest of their lives _,_ only if Riku was going to be by his side the entire time.

More carefully this time, he shifts his leg, adjusting it so he doesn’t have to stretch it as far anymore. He shifts ever closer to Riku, the two of them still staring all dopey with embarrassed red all over their faces. Riku folds him under his arm like normal, the way they’ve done all week, but it’s ten times better now, something more intimate and gentle in the gesture. With a content sigh, Sora leans into his side again, pressed as close as he possibly can to his—well, what are they now?

He opens one eye to glance up at Riku, still squished close in his side. “Riku? Does this mean you’ll be my boyfriend?”

With a flustered smile, Riku messes with Sora’s hair to fidget with something, twining the strands around his fingers. “Only if you’ll be mine,” Riku says all shyly, and _god,_ Sora doesn’t know how much further he can fall for him. Love is so endlessly wonderfully surprising and he’s so, so happy to be stuck in its whirlwind.

“I guess that’s only fair,” Sora says, satisfied. “That settles it then! We’re together! _Romantically_ , in case that wasn’t clear enough.”

Riku looks down at him, soft, trailing a hand away from his hair to drift a gentle path down his cheek. Even though he’s still all happiness, there’s a tinge of doubt crinkled in the worry lines on his face, in typical Riku fashion. Carefully, he asks, “Um, just to be clear. This isn’t some roundabout way of thanking me for helping you out, right?”

Propping his head on his chest, Sora shoots him a withering glare. “No way! You really think I would do that?”

Sheepishly, Riku smiles, still all dazed. “No, no, never, it just…it feels so much like a dream.”

Sora squeezes his middle tight to pinch away that last bit of uncertainty. “You better start believing that dreams _do_ come true, then.”

“I do now.” Riku squeezes him back, too, the grounding presence he’s always been reminding Sora just as much that this is real.

Later, they’ll talk more about this. They’ll walk home smiling and holding each other up like they’ve done all their lives, talking late into the afternoon. Sora’s leg will still ache a little, and he’ll still jokingly complain about it, but it’ll be half-hearted because it’s really not all that bad anymore, especially when he has Riku to distract him.

And if they work up the courage to, maybe they’ll even lean in just ever-so-slightly closer to one another, closing the gap between their lips chastely, just once, still all spellbound and smitten and all the other sappy stuff under the sun.

Right now, though, their confessions hanging gently in the sea breeze, they revel in feeling the sun on their skin and the warmth of each other’s presence, hearts entangled. Right now, they can’t imagine themselves being anywhere else but here.

**Author's Note:**

> Egyptian Ratslap and Go Fish are literally the only two card games I know how to play. Ratslap is a game of no mercy amongst my friends, really great way to start fights.
> 
> Set sometime after KH2, maybe a bit of DDD too. Personally, I’ve never broken a bone (knock on wood), so I hope this is at least somewhat-accurate to the experience. Also, I couldn’t figure out how to have Sora break a leg when literally everyone he knows, including himself, can cast healing magic, so please suspend your belief folks! :)
> 
> Title is from “Talk Too Much” by Coin. That chorus always gets me dancing!


End file.
